Scandinavian recipes made in America

Chili

We actually had a white Christmas this year, as a matter of fact, we had record snow falls here in Virginia. It may not have been as much snow as some of our more Northern neighbors got, but for Virginia this amount of snow has been very unusual. It started snowing on the evening of Christmas Day and continued on through 1st Christmas Day. I ♥ snow and of course I had to go out and explore it. It was beautiful and magical and the air was cold and refreshing. I must say that I enjoyed every moment of it.

Chili

Chili is such a great comfort food, perfect for when it’s cold outside. It’s quick and easy to put together and then just let it simmer away on the stove. I prefer to make my Chili one day in advance to allow the flavors to really come together. Of course, you can adjust the seasoning to your liking. I don’t make my Chili too spicy but if you like it hot, then by all means, add more Chipotle in Adobo sauce. Not only does this ingredient bring heat but it also brings a wonderful flavor as well. By the way, this Chili freezes very well making it an easy grab and go dinner. Enjoy!

In a large heavy cooking pot, brown the ground beef over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to medium, add the chopped onion and green pepper, continue to cook until onions are translucent. Add garlic and tomato paste and mix well. Add diced tomatoes, water, beans, chili powder, cumin, chipotle, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 2-3 hours. Remove from heat and let it cool for a little for 15 minutes. Place in storage containers and refrigerate. Serve Chili the following day or freeze for later.

Simmering Chili

Iron Wizards are made by Artist Blacksmith Joseph Gentile. To see more of his ironwork go to jganvil.com

Now that looks like a perfect bowl of chili!! I can’t believe all that snow you got! Here in Indiana we are used to snow but that picture looks a lot worse than what we have gotten here in the past few weeks. Hope you had a nice new years! 🙂

Look at all that snow! That’s how it looked in this part of the world about 2 weeks ago – I thought we were going to be snowed in forever! I could have had this bowl of chili to enjoy the snow! It looks so tasty!